UK Gambling Commission Speaks on Social Gaming

Reports last week indicated that the United Kingdom Gambling Commission was entertaining the idea of social gaming regulation. This week, the Commission has spoken out to address the rumors.

Speaking on behalf of the Commission in the The Mail on Sunday, John Travers, Corporate Affairs Manager said, “We are monitoring developments and assessing any wider implications for licensing objectives.” He continued, social gaming is “at the perimeter” of current legislation.

The Commission issued an official statement, “We monitor what is going on across a wide range of activities, whether on-line or terrestrial, such as lotteries, gaming machine sales and including social gaming sites, to ensure that unlicensed gambling – as defined by the Act – is not taking place.”

Gambling and online casino games, according to the UK Gambling Act definition, are games played with the chance to win a prize at a top online casino. Industry advocates are attempting to also define social gaming and the prizes and virtual money associated with it so that regulation can be more finite.

Ivor Jones of Numis Securities commented on the Gambling Commission statement, “Whether social gaming is or isn’t a gambling product doesn’t hinge on whether or not it is a game of chance, it hinges on whether you can win “money” or “money’s worth”. If regulation only stated “money” then casinos would be able to bypass regulation by handing out goods rather than currency as prizes, so legislation needs to say something of monetary value.”